Piston construction



' March 14, 1933. w U A ,901,312

PISTON CONSTRUCTION Filed March 30, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet l.

Inventor W; [Lucas flllorney Y March 14, 1933..- w LugAs I 1,901,312

PISTON CONSTRUCTION Filed March 30, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 W (7: Lucasflitomey I nventor Patented Mar. 14, 1933 WILLIAM J. LUCAS, OF OKLAHOMACITY, OKLAHOMA PISTONOONSTRUCTION Application filed marched 1932..sen-nut, 662,063. 1

The invention relates to an improved pis-- ton for use in connectionwith types of internal combustion engines, and the improvement has to dowith a supplemental accessory designed to conserve lu bricating oil.

The invention is especially but not necessarily adapted for use in analuminum alloy split skirt piston whether it be of the 1nvar-strut ornon-struttype.

Oil leakage between the pistons and the wall o1 the cylinder is notuncommon. In fact all sorts of oil rings and appurtenances have beenutilized with the thought in mind of preventing the escape oflubricating. oil into the combustion chamber 01 the motor. Moreover thelower edge of the skirt of the piston has been thinned to a feather-likeedge to scrape and skim the oil film from the cylinder wall, but inspite of these precautionary measures leakage nevertheless occurs, notonly interfering with the efliciency of the motor but unnecessarilyconsuming the oil which might otherwise be conserved and used to greateradvantage for lubricaing purposes.

The purpose of the present invention is to provide means on the interiorof the shell of the piston to intercept the oil and cause it togravitate back to the surfaces requiring lubrication and at the sametime prevent oil from being splashed or carried upwardly into theinterior of the piston by the action of a connecting rod so that it willbe prevented from finding its way outwardly through the apertures in thepiston and finally into the combustion chamber.

In the accompanying drawings, in which like numerals are employed todesignate like parts throughout the views:

Figure l is a view in section end elevation illustrating the preferredembodiment of the invention.

Figure 2 is a horizontal section on the line 22 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is afragmentary vertical sectional end elevational view. 1 a

Figure 4 is a detail sectional end eleva tional view of the noveladditional feature of the piston.

present day 'pli'cate segmental Figure 5 is "a detail View v Briefly andbroadly stated, the inventive conception c'oinprehends the installationof means on the interior of the piston, prefer-k ably near thebott'onroithe" skirt, to function as a battle and thereby intercept theexcessive low or passage of oil upwardly through the pistonwhereby'toconserve the oil and at thesame time prevent escapement thereof lnto thecombustion chamber.

-Referr1ng now to the drawings by-distinguishing reference characters itwill be observed that the piston isgnerallydesignated by the numeralSand is of conventional type. The connectin" rod, :is indicarted at? andthe improve oil intercept ingmeans' denotedby f the numeral 8.

This means is =-preferably, located in the lower skirt portion'pf theshelf of thepiston and seems to'bc more effective when located atthebottom of the skirt but may be positioned further up in the skirt ifconditions warrant. this change in. position. D

As before implied the device 8 is preterably in the form of abafile'.The most practical'-arrange1'nent I have discovered is the typeillustrated in the drawings wherein it will'be observed thatthe bafile,collectively considered, practically functions as a parti- 1 tion, thesame being composed of fourdu- 0 Wings or lates 9. spaced apart fromeach other and having their 'outenmarginal portions welded or otherwiserigidly secured to a retaining ring 10. The inner opposed parallel edgesof" the plate are bent down as indicated at llto form guard lips. Theadjacent corner portions oi the respective pairs" or step platesare'cut' away as'indicate'd at thepoint12 to allow for adequate radialexpansion and contraction ofthe ring 12. The ring is: of appropriatetensile strength and its ends are split sothatit Will fit adjustably indifferent sized pistons. Under this arrangement when the device is putin place sufiicient clearance is leftbetween the plates 9 to accommodatethe actionof a connecting rod 7. Moreover one orboth endsof the ringare'knurled or roughened as at 13 to provide for secure anchorage of thedevice in place when it is once put in position. The device may beshifted bodily up or down in a skirt of the piston so that it may assumethe most effective baflling position to counteract the excessive upwardthrow and casting of oil into the interior of the piston.

hen the device is installed in the vertically split pipe ofaluminumalloy piston it exerts sufiicient circumferential and radial pressureagainst the skirt as to expand the skirt into intimate contact with theWall of the cylinder (not shown).

, The gist of the invention is in theprovision of lnternal meanssusceptible oi being built in the original pistonconstruction or appliedas an attachment or accessory wherein said means is constructed to serveas a battle to interceptthe upward passage of lubricating oil whereby tocheck the oil I flow at a point which appears to be more efiicient thanattempting to check the flow of oil between the piston and its cylinderwall through the medium of elaborate oil rings and the like.

It is thought that the description taken in connection with the drawingswill enable a clear understanding of the invention to be had.'Therefore, a more lengthy description is thought unnecessary.

NVhile the preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown anddescribed, it is to be understood that minor changes coming within thefield of invention clail'ned may be resorted to it desired. 7 7

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new is:

1. As a new article of manufacture, a split radially expansibleresilient ring having one'end knurled for anchorage purposes, aplurality of segmental plates having their outer peripheral edgeportions attached to said ring, said plates being spaced apart tofacilitate expansion and contraction of the ring.

2. In, a structure of the class described, in combination, a hollowpiston, a connecting rod operatively connected to said piston, a splitradially expansible and contractible resilient ring adapted to beremovably fitted in said piston, a plurality of companion plates ofgeneral segmental'configuration having their outer, edgeportions'attached to said ring, said plates being disposed in ahorizontal plane and substantially even with each other, the inner edgeportions of the plates adjacent to said connecting rod being spaced fromeach other and formed with down-bent edge portions defining guard lips.i

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

WIL A J: LUCAS.

